Urban - bishop of Macedonia

We just learned about Amplias - Bishop of Odyssus, one of the seventy disciples.

Another of the seventy was Urban - bishop of Macedonia.

Urban went out and spread the word of God in the land of Macedonia, which is in southern Europe.


(from: wikipedia - urban of macedonia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Proverbs 17 - A Joyful Heart

Flying Horse of Gansu

We just learned about the Mao Gong Ding.

Another ancient Chinese sculpture is the Flying Horse of Gansu, also called the Bronze Running Horse or the Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow.

This sculpture was found underneath a monastery in an old tomb with over 200 different bronze sculptures.

The horse in this sculpture is a type of horse called Tianma, which means heavenly horse.
These horses came from a place called Ferghana, and they were such great horses that the Emperor of China gave them the nickname of heavenly horse.

The statue is perfectly balanced on just one foot, which is stepping on top of a bird.
This is supposed to mean that the horse runs so fast it is almost like it is flying through the air with the birds.



(from: wikipedia - flying horse of gansu)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: David - Donatello

Greek - Counting to Twenty

We counted to 15 in Greek, let's keep going!

16 δεκαέξι (dekaéxi) - sounds like day-kah-AY-k-see
17 δεκαεπτά (dekaeptá) - sounds like day-kah-ay-p-TAH
18 δεκαοχτώ (dekaochtó) - sounds like day-kah-oh-k-TOH
19 δεκαεννέα (dekaennéa) - sounds like day-kah-ay-n-EE-ah
20 είκοσι (eíkosi) - sounds like ay-EE-koh-see


(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)

ASL: sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty

Italian: sedici, diciassette, diciotto, diciannove, venti

German: sechzehn, siebzehn, achtzehn, neunzehn, zwanzig

Spanish: dieciséis, diecisiete, dieciocho, diecinueve, veinte

French: seize, dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf, vingt

Accelerometer

We just learned about the Altimeter.

Another part of rocket science is the Accelerometer.

This is something in the rocket that tells the rocket how fast it is accelerating.
This isn't the same as it's speed, which is just how fast it is going.
Acceleration is the difference in speed over time.

So think about it like if you are walking, and then you are jogging, and then you are running as fast as you can.
When you switch from walking to jogging, there is a difference in speed, and it however long it takes you to get from walking speed to jogging speed is the acceleration.

Gravity is another way to think about acceleration.
If a rock is dropped off of a tall building, it starts falling slowly, but then gets faster and faster, and by the time it hits the ground could be going fast enough to really hurt if it crashed into something.

The difference in how fast it is falling every second is the acceleration.
That is what the accelerometer measures, so that the rocket knows how much faster it is getting every second.



(from: wikipedia - accelerometer)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Plasma Cutting

Armhook Squid

We just learned about the Broadclub Cuttlefish.

Another cephalopod is the Armhook Squid, also called the Gonatidae.

These are a type of squid that don't have just normal suction cups on their arms.
Most squids have rows of two cups all the way down their arm, but the armhook squid has four, and some of the suckers are actually more like hooks.

They are red, purple or brown, they live in the ocean, and they grow to about 10 inches.





(from: wikipedia - gonatidae)



The Hidden Ocean, Arctic 2005: Boreo Atlantic Armhook Squid - oceanexplorergov

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pacman Frog

Maxillary Second Molar

We just learned about the Maxillary First Molar.

Another tooth is the Maxillary Second Molar.

These ones are just like the Maxillary First Molars, just further back on the jaw.
They have 4 cusps, and they work to help grind up the food.

Some people get another row of teeth behind these, but for other people these are the last teeth in the mouth.


(from: wikipedia - maxillary second molar)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Nail Plate

Bran Castle

We just learned about the Malbork Castle.

Another famous castle is Bran Castle, built in 1300s in Romania.

This castle is sometimes called "Dracula's Castle" because the famous ruler Vlad Țepeș stayed in this castle a few times.

The book Dracula by Bram Stoker is just a made up story, but the writer Bram Stoker used the real person Vlad Țepeș (also known as Vlad the Impaler) as part of his book and made up a story about him being the vampire Dracula.

Vlad was a real person and Dracula was a fake story, but since Vlad stayed in Bran Castle they like to tell stories about this castle!



(from: wikipedia - bran castle)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Nova Scotia